Good parts washer solvent

We need new stuff.

Dads thinking diesel fuel or kerosene.

Im thinking straight castrol superclean.

Whats the good and cheap stuff?

I've used kerosene. It was way cheaper than "parts cleaner solvent". I don't think it cleaned as nice, it took a little more scrubbing and didn't evaporate as quickly.But for the price difference it worked really well, and didn't stink the way I thought it would. When I finally drag my parts cleaner home I will probably use the kerosene again.

I've  used mineral sprits, kerosene, or some mixture of both.  It cleans OK for me and I usually just let the item drain and dry if I'm not in a hurry. If I need the part right away I then spray it with a good de-greaser and rinse with hot water.  

Which reminds me,  I have to drain the parts cleaner solvent into some jugs and let the crud settle to the bottom. I then take off the "clean" solvent and put it back into the cleaner. 

Diesel, while a good solvent has an odor that is not the most pleasant.  And I own a diesel car so I know.

I use K1 Kerosene.

Super clean is great, except for etching aluminum.

the trick isn’t necessarily the cleaning fluid as much as getting it and or the part warm.  A warm part/super clean fluid will be clean much faster than cold parts/fluid.

so I’d look at a submersible beverage warmer, just be careful it doesn’t melt anything or catch the fluid on fire.  Changing the fluid/filtering it will help remove the more caustic and flammable material.

I use the Aerospace-approved Simple Green, available in 5-gallon buckets (diluted significantly; I think 5 gal is enough to set up my 20-gal washer a few times, given that it only actually holds ~10 gal of liquid). It's a reasonably nice place on the cleans-things-up/safe-for-materials/not-a-fire-hazard spectrum.

Guessing it's not the cheapest, but wouldn't imagine it'd be wildly different than Superclean? Prepared to be wildly wrong...

EDIT: As a bonus, reminded by Stefan's post, it's safe for aluminum, unlike the normal Simple Green.

The shop I worked in used whatever diesel got drained out of broken cars. Works okay but makes you smell great!

I got a 5 gal drum of the stuff from Tractor Supply a couple years ago, which works well enough.  I was worried about something water-based freezing in the garage.

I also put a stick-on heater pad on the bottom of the washer.  Helps with degreasing, and also makes it less unpleasant cleaning things in cold weather.

I use your basic pail o' solvent from Princess Auto.

Having spent YEARS washing parts in solvent with bare hands, I no longer can work in oils and solvents with bare hands - always use Nitrile Gloves or equivalent to protect your skin.

Solvent is absorbed through the skin, and allegedly filtered by your kidneys and liver. Probably why mechanics don't always look so youthful. 

In reply to SkinnyG :

^^^^^^^Word!

The two leading causes of bladder cancer are smoking and exposure to solvents.  

I was just going to suggest nitrile gloves. The Castro’s super clean is great, but dries your hands out soooooo badly. 

I keep a pair of chemical safe gloves right by my parts cleaner and 95% of the time I do wear them.

Yeah, and degreasing detergents can damage your skin the same way as solvents by removing the fats in your skin cells.

I have been using the Tractor Supply solvent and very happy, Mineral spirits is good but costs as much

GTXVette said:

I have been using the Tractor Supply solvent and very happy, Mineral spirits is good but costs as much

this stuff?

In reply to fasted58 :

Yes I believe that is it ,  I did think it was about 10 bucks less but that may be correct,  I bought 2 cans because I am using a Plastic 55 Gal. Drum. Need to clean out my 30 Gal. can 'cause it's got axle grease in it.

PS  I am really Anal about NOT putting dirty parts in my cleaner, This is a couple years old and still cleans fine,   I wash with Purple clean or Dawn and pressure (Faucet) First.